Crawlspace Insulation
in Tsawwassen, BC

Tsawwassen occupies the Tsawwassen Peninsula at the southwestern corner of the Lower Mainland, with residential development on the upland portion of the peninsula and the BC Ferries terminal on the causeway to the south. The sandy soils of the peninsula drain more freely than the clay-heavy lowlands of Ladner and North Delta, which gives Tsawwassen homes better natural drainage than most of the Delta municipality.

The majority of homes in Surrey and the surrounding communities built before 2000 have fiberglass batt insulation installed between the floor joists in the crawlspace. When this insulation was new and dry, it provided reasonable thermal resistance. The problem is that fiberglass batts installed in a vented crawlspace environment in a high-rainfall climate like ours rarely stay dry. They absorb ambient moisture, sag out of their cavities, and gradually collapse onto the ground. Wet fiberglass insulation has essentially zero R-value, adds weight that can pull down on vapor barriers or staples, and provides a hospitable nesting environment for rodents.

For crawlspaces that are not being fully encapsulated, we install new unfaced fiberglass batts or mineral wool between the joists, but only after addressing the moisture conditions that destroyed the previous insulation. Installing fresh batts into a still-damp crawlspace environment means you'll be back in the same situation within a few years. Proper sequencing matters: drainage, vapor barrier, then insulation.